The Load Out
Pentecost 23, Proper 26
November 5, 2023
Fr. Tim Nunez
May my spoken word be true to God’s written word and bring us all closer to the living word, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Years ago, my father and a friend would gather up a group to go backpacking in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park each spring after tax season. He invited me to go, and I did several times.
Backpacking is more intense than hiking. We’d be out in the woods for 5-6 days and nights straight. And I know I just said it was intense, but we didn’t actually use tents. We each slept on a thin mat in a sleeping bag, either out in the open or under tarps.
The first time I went, I asked a lot of questions and really wanted to prepare. We’d go in April when it was cold, but there were no bugs. Dad gave me a list built on his years of experience. I got a good pair of boots, good thick socks, a good sleeping bag, a little pad to sleep on, a poncho for rain, and on and on. I added to his list. That first year I packed everything I thought I might need, nice and neatly. But my backpack was pretty full.
We drove up to the mountains. When we got to the trailhead, they started divvying up the food and cooking utensils. My pack was already full.
I was able to cram my share into my pack. My dad kept telling me I was carrying too much, but I figured since I was younger that would be fine. He’d talk about saving ounces.
We had a great week, but I learned that those ounces add up when you are carrying them all day every day. When we got home, I took stock of the things I hadn’t used and especially those I’d never need.
And you can be assured that on subsequent trips I packed more wisely – taking only what I would really need.
In today’s Gospel Jesus is making a much stronger statement about what we really need. He’s starting his Sermon on the Mount with these Beatitudes about our orientation, the orientation of our hearts, toward God.
The Pharisees took the 613 commands in the Law of Moses and added all sorts of extra rules and regulations on top of them. But it’s not as though they were loading up their own backpacks. They loaded everyone else’s while they didn’t carry their own. They like the show. They like the acclaim. They are the original hypocrites – hyper-judgmental and not living up the very standards they assert.
It isn’t as though Jesus wanted the people to ignore the law. He says later in the Sermon on the Mount that he hadn’t come to change the law but to fulfill it. He laid out a new law, the law of love, and new commands, but not as a longer, heavier list of tasks to bear. Rather, from the Beatitudes forward, he teaches that the key is to get our hearts right with God, from which we are guided to live right from within.
Still, we have to watch this issue of burdens. We all have to face the question of what we are to do about our faith. It’s important to attend church. It’s important to participate. It’s important to give. It’s important to study God’s Word. It’s important to pray. It’s important to serve in whatever ways God calls us. It’s important to share our faith with others when opportunities arise. There, I’ve done it. That’s seven commands. There are many more; we could create a long list of what a Christian ought to do, think and feel, or avoid.
But my goal here is not to burden you, but to help you lead a life worthy of God, to embody the living Word, God’s Word, that is at work in you, to prepare you to be one of those robed in white gathered before The Lord. We have examples.
I look at our list of saints that died this past year and I don’t see tasks, I see people with the whole universe of ways each of them lived.
I see my brother, Fr. Tom Seitz, who was as driven a doer of the Word as anyone I’ve ever known.
I see Ed Koivula struggling up the steps so he could sing in our choir.
I see Carlton Sole with his joy of singing in the choir and Dale Gruhn faithfully bringing his great-granddaughter Chloe to church.
Mac McKinstry would tell me stories of his life and his father, who was the Bishop of Delaware.
Mike Woodley had a huge personality and sharp mind and thought deeply about his faith.
I didn’t know Beverly Dampier but I gather she loved to talk with everyone who came by the parish office.
And I see Tom Calleson, who died just a little over a week ago. Tom was terribly injured when he was hit by a car some years ago, injuries from which he never fully recovered. Tom couldn’t do a lot, and he was a little rough around the edges, but he volunteered to usher. He loved people. He loved this church and he felt loved here because he was loved here.
We all have saints through whom the Lord has touched our lives. Many are represented on the crosses hanging all around us, many more are not. Let’s take a moment to thank God for them, quietly.
We have one more saint to remember this morning, one who God loves so deeply and who will be newly minted shortly. Kaden Bassett is just beginning his journey. And you know kids today tend to have a lot of equipment: high chairs, bassinets, cribs, car seats, bathtubs, all sorts of stuff. We do not welcome Kaden into Christ’s Body the Church, into the household of God, to lay extra burdens on him or his family. We baptize him into life with Jesus that goes on forever.
Yes, it will affect the way he lives and sees the world. May he be driven by the faith, hope and love that has brought so many into true life and their eternal place with God.
AMEN